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Ferguson officer who called Brown memorial 'pile of trash' gets suspended

"The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department," officials said.

By Brooks Hays
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon pauses for a moment on August 14, 2014 at the area where teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Missouri policeman on August 9, 2014. Nixon met with clergy, political and law enforcement officials to try to come up with ideas to end the violence the area has seen since the shooting. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon pauses for a moment on August 14, 2014 at the area where teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Missouri policeman on August 9, 2014. Nixon met with clergy, political and law enforcement officials to try to come up with ideas to end the violence the area has seen since the shooting. UPI/Bill Greenblatt | License Photo

FERGUSON, Mo., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Earlier this week, a memorial to slain teen Michael Brown was intentionally destroyed by a car. When interviewed about the incident, Ferguson police spokesperson Timothy Zoll questioned whether there was even a crime to investigate -- referring to the memorial "pile of trash in the middle of the street."

Those comments, made in an interview with the Washington Post, have landed Zoll on unpaid leave.

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"I don't know that a crime has occurred," Zoll told the Post. "But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?"

Zoll later told local news station KSDK, as well as his superiors, that the reporter had misquoted him. But Zoll eventually admitted to making the comments.

"The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of City officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location," local officials wrote in a released statement.

Since the incident on Friday night, local volunteers have reassembled a memorial in the middle of the street near where Michael Brown was fatally shot by police officer Darren Wilson. A series of looting incidents and fire have previously damaged the memorial.

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